Diaper Drive

The final numbers are in for the Gold Coast Doulas LLC diaper drive for Nestlings | Diaper Bank of West Michigan and Great Start Parent Coalition.

We collected 13,372 disposable diapers and 67 packs of wipes. These diapers are packed in groups of ten to impact families in need.

We are thankful to all our clients and community members who donated from September 1st to October 2nd during our 8th annual month-long diaper drive and the 8^th anniversary of Gold Coast. Thank you to all the individuals who donated to the drive.

Photo: Kristin Revere, Gold Coast Doulas; Emily Tobin, Hopscotch Children’s Store; Lauren Edwards, Fox 17 reporter

One in two U.S. families with young children struggle to afford diapers and no government programs currently provide them. This rate increased from one in three in past years. Food, shelter, and utilities are the only items covered by assistance. Diapers are expensive and many families make tough choices between paying rent and utilities or buying diapers. Research shows that 48% of parents delay changing diapers and 32% report reusing diapers to make supplies last longer.

Gold Coast takes sustainability seriously as a Certified B Corporation. Clean diapers make a significant impact on the health of new families and our giving focus is on supporting low-income women and children.

We appreciate the generous used and new cloth diaper donations we received:

• 136 covers
• 38 inserts
• 11 pads
• 5 snaps
• 6 wet bags

Photo: Steve Sucher, Nestlings board member; Annie Bishop, Rise Wellness Chiropractic; Kristin Revere, Gold Coast Doulas

Thanks to our partnered drop-off locations for all the support over the years.

In Zeeland:
Howard Miller Library: 14 S. Church Street

Lake Michigan Credit Union: 8630 E. Main St

In Holland:
Brann’s 12234 James Street

EcoBuns Baby + Co.: 11975 E. Lakewood Blvd Suite 6

The Insurance Group: 593 Heritage Court

Lucas Scott. Co.: 650 Riley St.

Harbor Health & Massage: 444 Washington Ave

Lake Michigan Credit Union: 677 E 8^th St.  and 3494 West Shore Dr

In Greater Grand Rapids:
Rise Wellness Chiropractic PLC: 1005 Lake Dr SE

Hopscotch Children’s Store: 909 Cherry St SE

Mind Body Baby: 1501 Lake Dr SE

Advent Physical Therapy: Four locations

• Cherry St: 245 Cherry St. SE, Suite 102
• Byron Center: 2373 64^th St SW Suite 2100
• Alpine: 933 3 Mile NW #204
• Caledonia: 10047 Crossroads Ct Suite 150

Mindful Counseling GR: Three locations

• 985 Parchment Dr SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546
• 3351 Claystone St SE Suite G 32
• 113 Lake Michigan Drive NW, Standale

Fit4Mom Grand Rapids: Various locations

Gold Coast Doulas: 1430 Robinson Road SE, Suite 204

Photo: Dr. Rachel Babbitt; Kristin Revere, Gold Coast Doulas; Dr. Annie Bishop; Shelley Irwin, WGVU

We received more online donations than ever before with the Nestling’s Amazon Wish List.  Thanks for choosing that option to support families in need.
Thank you to Shelley Irwin with The Shelley Irwin Show and Fox 17 for supporting our drive over the years. This awareness and exposure helped us to exceed our goal of collecting 10,000 diapers.

Gold Coast Doulas is holding our 7th annual Diaper Drive from September 1st to October 2nd, 2022. Giving back is an important foundation of our business as a Certified B Corporation; clean diapers make a significant impact on the health of new families and our giving focus is on supporting low-income women and children.

One in three babies suffer in dirty diapers and no government programs currently provide them. Food, shelter, and utilities are the only items covered by assistance. Diapers are expensive and many families make tough choices between paying rent and utilities or buying diapers. Research shows that 48% of parents delay changing diapers and 32% report re-using diapers to make supplies last longer. The need has intensified during the pandemic, especially with the baby formula shortage.

The Gold Coast Doulas diaper drive coincides with National Diaper Need Awareness Week, September 24th – October 2. Diaper Need Awareness Week is an initiative of the National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN), created to make a difference in the lives of the nearly 5.2 million babies in the United States aged three or younger who live in poor or low-income families.

Our annual diaper drive benefits Nestlings Diaper Bank of West Michigan and Great Start Parent Coalition of Kent County. Holland-based Nestlings has distributed over I million diapers and helped over 18,000 families since 2011. Nestlings Diaper Bank also works with 31 partner agencies to distribute the diapers to the families in need.

Our goal is to collect 10,000 diapers to support families in need in Kent, Ottawa, and Allegan counties to celebrate our 7th anniversary. We collect opened and unopened boxes and packages of new disposable diapers, used cloth diapers and cloth supplies, new cloth diapers, and new boxes or packages of wipes. We need your help to make this happen.

Diaper donations will be accepted from September 1 to October 2 at the following partnered drop-off locations:

Howard Miller Public Library
14 S Church St, Zeeland, MI 49464

Brann’s Steakhouse & Grille
12234 James St, Holland, MI 49424

The Insurance Group
593 Heritage Ct, Holland, MI 49423

R Lucas Scott Co
114 E Main Ave, Zeeland, MI 49464

EcoBuns 
11975 E Lakewood Blvd Suite 6, Holland, MI 49424

Georgetown United Methodist Church
2766 Baldwin St, Jenison, MI 49428

Rise Wellness Chiropractic
1005 Lake Dr SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Hopscotch Children’s Store
909 Cherry St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Mind Body Baby
1501 Lake Dr SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Advent Physical Therapy
245 Cherry St SE Suite 102, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Advent Physical Therapy
2373 64^th St Ste 2100 Byron Center

Mindful Counseling GR
985 Parchment Dr SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Mindful Counseling GR

3351 Claystone St SE, Suite G 32, Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Mindful Counseling GR
113 Lake Michigan Dr NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49544

FIT4MOM Grand Rapids
Donations accepted at classes

Gold Coast Doulas
Donations are accepted at classes.

You can donate directly to fill Nestling’s Amazon Wish List or through their website via Paypal.

Contact us at info@goldcoastdoulas.com with questions.

The final numbers are in for the Gold Coast Doulas LLC diaper drive for Nestlings | Diaper Bank of West Michigan. We collected
18,963 disposable diapers and 142 wipes. These diapers are packed in groups of ten to impact 1,896 families in need. We are thankful to all of our clients and community members who donated from September 1st to October 1st during our third annual month-long diaper drive. Our goal was 30,000 diapers and we came closer than we had in previous years.

Gold Coast takes sustainability seriously and appreciates the generous cloth donations. We received the following used and new cloth diapers:

442 cloth diaper covers
107 cloth wipes
36 wet bags
530 diaper pads
108 prefolds
8 snappies

Many props to our fantastic dropoff locations including:

In Zeeland:
Smedley Dental 133 1/3 E Main Ave
Howard Miller Library 14 S. Church Street

In Holland:
Untangled Salon 650 Riley Street
Brann’s 12234 James Street
Harbor Health and Massage 444 Washington Ave.
EcoBuns Baby + Co 12330 James Street
The Insurance Group 593 Heritage Court
Higher Health Chiropractic of Holland 98 Douglas Ave

In Hudsonville:
Hudsonville Congregational United Church of Christ 4950 32nd Avenue
Love Inc. 3300 Van Buren Street

In Grand Rapids:
The Wellness Collective 1324 Lake Drive SE
Mindful Counseling 741 Kenmoor Ave. SE
Hopscotch Children’s Store 909 Cherry Street SE
Simply Born Midwifery Services 802 Merritt Street SE
Cascade Pediatrics 5150 Cascade Rd SE, Suite B
Grand Rapids Natural Health 638 Fulton St W, B
Gold Coast Doulas 1430 Robinson Rd SE, Suite 204
Rise Wellness 1430 Robinson Rd SE, Suite 201

In Walker:
ABC Pediatrics 4288 3 Mile Rd NW
Higher Health Chiropractic 4735 Lake Michigan Dr

In Wyoming:
Higher Health Chiropractic 1027 Gezon Pkwy SW
ABC Pediatrics 4174 56th St SW

Special shoutouts go to the following partners:

Ecobuns collected the most cloth diapers and had to have their bin emptied multiple times.

Higher Health in Walker collected 2,700 diapers. The most one dropoff location has ever collected. Way to go Higher Health!!!! You rock.

Rise Wellness Chiropractic collected around 1,000 diapers from their clients and supporters.

Mindful Counseling came through once again with 1,216 wipes and over 677 diaper donations.

Hopscotch had an overflowing bin with donations wrapping around their store.

Other honorable mentions with impressive collection efforts: ABC Pediatrics, Gold Coast Doulas, Higher Health Wyoming, Higher Health Holland, Cascade Pediatrics, Grand Rapids Natural Health and all of the permanent dropoff locations in Holland/Zeeland and Hudsonville.

Much needed awareness was generated from a great radio segment on WGVU with Shelley Irwin featuring Alyssa from Gold Coast and Dr. Annie from Rise Wellness Chiropractic.

Erica Francis of Fox 17 interviewed Kristin from Gold Coast and Emily from Hopscotch Children’s Store and we received an overwhelming response of phone calls, emails and drop-ins to Hopscotch.

Many thanks to other area media friends who personally shared the information or ran PSA’s during the diaper drive campaign. We appreciate you all.

Final thanks goes to Nestlings for coordinating pickups and supporting our efforts along the way and to all of you who donated and spread the word. We also want to congratulate our amazing team who personally donated diapers, delivered collection boxes, spread the word, and delivered diapers to Nestlings. We couldn’t have made the impact without our team of doulas and our partnered dropoff locations.